Ice Queens and Cold Shoulders
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: In the aftermath of an unexpected biomerging, Ryo is giving the original Chosen the cold shoulder and as much as Ruki doesn't care for the situation, she winds up talking about exactly that with one Yagami Taichi.


**A/N:** Written for Nesh (Guardian of Nesh) for the Secret Santa Fic Exchange over at the DFC. Hope you enjoy, and merry belated Christmas!

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 **Ice Queens and Cold Shoulders**

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They looked rather resigned to the cold shoulder. Which was ridiculous in most of their opinions, because their world had done just as much to dig up those old scars as their sudden appearance had, and Ryo often said how, after a fashion, he understood the sacrifice that had needed to be made. He said he understood why what had happened needed to be done. Why he had to lose some many friends. Why the Harmonious Ones and Chosen combined had tricked him. They couldn't help the Milleniummon situation, after all...except maybe Ken and Ryo had spent a good half hour scolding him for forces he arguably hadn't been in control of. And then he'd introduced himself to the three that had absolutely nothing to do with the situation, said a curt hello to the two that were arguably too young to have any sway at the time, and had ignored the rest.

And now they were broken into uncomfortable clumps at Hypnos, waiting for the adults to decide what was to happen. And they got to nurse their own bitter disappointment as well - because, when the portal between worlds had opened, they were sure it was their partners they'd find. Instead, it was kids and their digimon from what was, except to Ryo, a fictionous tale in this world. And it would have been more exciting for people like Hirokazu if their partners had been there as well.

Probably, it would have been easier for Ryo if only Ken had shown up, or none of them, but it was also an opportunity to pack everything up and throw it down the well. Except he was as stubborn as a mule, and while that came in handy against the D-reaper, it was only going to be a pain now.

Jenrya, taking a break in conversation with Jyou and Koushiro, gave a helpless shrug. Ruki shook her head. She was not going over to talk to a grumpy Ryo. Especially not with the way Mimi had squealled when she'd seen her. She was talking to her mother now, and as far as Ruki was concerned, the two of them could exhaust the topics of clothes and makeup and boys and she'd never have to hear them again.

Takato and Kenta were talking with Takeru and Hikari while Hirokazu admired something on the girl's camera. Iori looked rather uncomfortable with how Shuichon had plopped down beside him. Sora, Miyako and Juri were talking in sombre tones. Ryo and Ken were still catching up and Taichi and Yamato were just hanging to the side.

She looked away quickly, in case they mistook her survey for an invitation. Unfortunately, they must have, because Taichi was standing beside her after a bit. 'You seem to know Ryo well.'

'Try Hirokazu,' Ruki said dryly. 'He's the die-hard Ryo fan.'

'Not what I meant.' He looked amused, which both annoyed her and intruiged her. It wasn't quite as annoying as Ryo, and not as clumsy as Takato, but also not as gentlemanly as Jenrya. He seemed like the sort of guy who'd made a decision for the team when it needed to be made, and then beat himself up about it afterwards.

Ruki shrugged. 'I'm not a middle woman.'

'Not that either.' This time, he shook his head. 'It's just... we never did think we'd get the chance to see him again, you know? And we didn't think there was another way to stop Milleniummon. We still don't think there is - after all it took to defeat Vamdemon -'

'We had adults helping us,' Ruki said, after a brief pause. 'They came in rather handy...after causing a few messes.' She made sure Yamaki was nowhere to be found first. He might have more than made up for things, but Juggernaut was still an uncomfortable topic for them.

'We had a little help,' Taichi said, after a pause. 'Yamato's parents mostly, and Jyou's brothers, and Sora's father and Ken's father too...'

'I get the point.' She was starting to reconsider her comparisons. He might not be as straightfoward as Hirokazu, but he sure talked enough.

'Sorry.' He watched the others for a moment, finding Ryo again. 'We had no idea, when we first heard about the Digimon Kaiser, that it was Milleniummon's doing.'

'That was obvious.'

He looked a little taken aback by her remark. It occured to her that no-one had yet told them they were fictional characters in one of Tokyo's most popular franchise. So she explained - the way she explained everything, short and to the point and posisbly skimping on a few details the other person might want to know. But filling in those holes was somebody else's job.

He grimaced before she finished. 'We really are characters in a video game. And Ryo as well. How does he handle it?'

'By lapping up all the attention.' There was an element of sarcasm to her reply, but the rest of it was truthful. Until she'd gotten to know him better (or allowed herself to know him better), Ryo had appeared to be the sort of guy who lived for fame - even if he had spent over a year in the mostly humanless digital world. Except it wasn't quite true.

Taichi looked over at him. He was still talking with Ken and now Daisuke and his V-mon had joined them too, and both V-mon and Ken looked like they'd been crying. Ryo's eyes, in comparison, were an itchy-looking dry. 'He's strong, to have kept on going.'

'Of course he is.' Ruki rolled her eyes. It was a genuine compliment, and considering the ones Ryo often got, that was a rarity - but a silly one nonetheless. 'He was handpicked, wasn't he? You all were - so those Harmonius guys who picked you all had to make sure you'd get the job done and keep the collatoral damage to a minimum.' Collateral damage like Ichijouji Osamu, like Wizarmon...and Ryo too. 'It's a bit silly, really, that four digimon that call themselves Gods try to run two worlds. And they can't even agree on things.'

'That's true,' Taichi mused. 'Have you met them?'

Ruki snorted. 'Two of the four. I think Ryo's met them all. Though why he likes a turtle is beyond me...' Which was rather hypocritical of Ryo, considering they had far greater a role in pushing him away than the Chosen. 'He's got impossibly thick skin.'

'Except when it comes to us, it seems like.' Ryo was definitely facing the other direction. Definitely ignoring them.

'You think he gave up on you lot?' It wasn't a very Ryo-like thing to do. What was, on the other hand - She gave a brief burst of laughter suddenly, enough so that Yamato, still lingering, stared oddly at her. 'How about marching up and apologising? That Ken kid's the only one who's actually said it and I'd say he counts as collateral.' Of course, she couldn't say that to all the digimon affected by the rule of the Digimon Kaiser. 'Of course, if you're not sorry...'

'Of course we're sorry,' he snapped, before shaking his head. 'This is a weird conversation.'

'Tell me about it.' She folded her arms. 'Are the rest of you so intolerable?' The comment, of course, lacked bite. He wasn't that bad...considering. The topic, on the other hand, could use changing.

'I'm a soccer star.' He sounded almost wounded. Just like Ryo saying "I'm a celebrity" and Ruki pulling an "I'm not care" line to counter that.

'And I'm the Digimon Queen,' she said calmly. Though she grimaced when Ryo echoed: "Second only to the Digimon King." 'Shut it, Ryo!'

At least they were looking their way now.

'What are you still doing here?' Ruki asked Taichi.

And she might have let a smile slip as he steeled himself and strode towards Ryo.


End file.
